Maarja-Liis Ilus
Encyclopedia
Maarja-Liis Ilus, sometimes better known by her performing name Maarja (born 24 December 1980 in Tallinn
, Estonia
) is a pop
musician
. Maarja has achieved some chart success in a number of countries across Europe
and Asia
. She has also represented her native Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
twice, and is often credited as being the first Estonian solo artist to achieve international chart success.
with the song "Kaelakee hääl
" (in a duet with Ivo Linna
) which would go onto finish 5th at the contest, held in Oslo
that year. The exposure from competing in Eurovision would ultimately make Geffen Records
notice the young Ilus, signing her for her first international album release. Her Eurovision entry was recorded half in English
and half in Greek
and she performed it as a duet, along with Greek
singer Yiorgos Doukas. She also visited Greece
for promotion and made a guest appearance in the Greek
version of Disney Club
.
Meanwhile, Ilus entered the Eurolaul
again in 1997, winning with the solo "Keelatud maa
" which eventually finished 8th in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997
. The result helped to further solidify her popularity in Estonia, making her second album First In Line an instant success there when released on August 25, 1998. The album, which was Ilus' first effort entirely in English, was also released internationally. Ilus would not achieve the same success when she tried to break through into the American mainstream, though, with the album essentially failing to make any impact on the Billboard charts. Ilus would also release the mostly Estonian language
album Kaua veel later on in 1998, with the album winning her the Estonian Female Singer of the Year award.
Ilus' next album would be City Life
in 2001. Following the release of City Life, she entered the Melodifestivalen
of 2003 in Sweden with the song "He Is Always On My Mind", although she would be eliminated at the semi-final stage. The release of the song as a single (and release of a modified version of City Life, with the song as the first track) achieved no notable commercial success.
Ilus would enter Eurolaul for the third time in 2004, performing the self-written
"Homme", which would ultimately finish in 4th place. The same year she worked on smooth jazz
projects, working with the club jazz band Hinkus and performing vocals on Tõnu Raadik's Flow of Dreams album.
She also recorded a duet song "And You Came" with the Latvia
n pop singer Lauris Reiniks
in 2005.
In early 2006, Ilus publicly stated that she was unhappy that former Vanilla Ninja
bassist
and lead vocalist Maarja Kivi, another Estonian singer who has achieved international success, was also using the performing name of Maarja for her debut solo single. The two using the same name has confused some into believing that Kivi and Ilus are the same person.
Late 2008 saw the release of her new studio album "Homme" with the title song included and only a year later she released a Christmas album for the Estonian market.
In 2002 she made her debut in a musical, namely the one of "Miss Saigon
" where she starred as Ellen
. Later on, she has performed in several musicals staged in Estonia, such as "The Sound of Music
" (Maria), "Cats
" (Grizabella
), "Evita" (Eva Peron
) and "Rent
" (Joanne).
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
) is a pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. Maarja has achieved some chart success in a number of countries across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. She has also represented her native Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
twice, and is often credited as being the first Estonian solo artist to achieve international chart success.
Early years
Maarja-Liis Ilus' music career started at the age of 4, when she debuted in the musical film "Õnneseen" ("Lucky Fellow"). She also performed with the Estonian Television children's choir and 1996 saw the release of her self-titled debut album Maarja.Career
In 1996, Maarja became a true household name of Estonia for representing Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest 1996Eurovision Song Contest 1996
The Eurovision Song Contest 1996 was the 41st Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 18 May 1996 in Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, Norway. The presenters were Ingvild Bryn and Morten Harket. Harket, lead singer of a-ha, opened the show with a performance of his single "Heaven's Not For Saints". Eimear...
with the song "Kaelakee hääl
Kaelakee hääl
"Kaelakee hääl" is a song performed by Maarja-Liis Ilus and Ivo Linna that represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996. The composer was Priit Pajusaar and the lyrics were written by Kaari Sillamaa....
" (in a duet with Ivo Linna
Ivo Linna
Ivo Linna is an Estonian singer.He represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "Kaelakee Hääl" which would go onto finish 5th at the contest, held in Oslo that year....
) which would go onto finish 5th at the contest, held in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
that year. The exposure from competing in Eurovision would ultimately make Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
notice the young Ilus, signing her for her first international album release. Her Eurovision entry was recorded half in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and half in Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
and she performed it as a duet, along with Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
singer Yiorgos Doukas. She also visited Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
for promotion and made a guest appearance in the Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
version of Disney Club
Disney Club
Disney Club is the name of many television shows associated to Disney productions aired mostly in Europe and Brazil during the 1990s and early 2000s.- Americas :* Brazil : aired from April 28, 1997 to December 28, 2002 on SBT...
.
Meanwhile, Ilus entered the Eurolaul
Eurolaul
Eurolaul was an annual televised competition to select a song to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest made by the Estonian Public Television Service ETV. For many years the competition differed from the national selections of most other countries in that the outcome was solely...
again in 1997, winning with the solo "Keelatud maa
Keelatud maa
"Keelatud maa" was the Estonian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997, performed in Estonian by Maarja....
" which eventually finished 8th in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997
Eurovision Song Contest 1997
The Eurovision Song Contest 1997, was the 42nd Eurovision Song Contest and it was held at the Point Theatre Dublin, Ireland, on 3 May 1997. Boyzone member Ronan Keating and Carrie Crowley were the presenters of the show....
. The result helped to further solidify her popularity in Estonia, making her second album First In Line an instant success there when released on August 25, 1998. The album, which was Ilus' first effort entirely in English, was also released internationally. Ilus would not achieve the same success when she tried to break through into the American mainstream, though, with the album essentially failing to make any impact on the Billboard charts. Ilus would also release the mostly Estonian language
Estonian language
Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
album Kaua veel later on in 1998, with the album winning her the Estonian Female Singer of the Year award.
Ilus' next album would be City Life
City Life (album)
City Life is the third studio album by the American rhythm and blues and jazz-funk fusion group The Blackbyrds.-Reception:Produced by Donald Byrd...
in 2001. Following the release of City Life, she entered the Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen is an annual music competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television and Sveriges Radio . It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1959...
of 2003 in Sweden with the song "He Is Always On My Mind", although she would be eliminated at the semi-final stage. The release of the song as a single (and release of a modified version of City Life, with the song as the first track) achieved no notable commercial success.
Ilus would enter Eurolaul for the third time in 2004, performing the self-written
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
"Homme", which would ultimately finish in 4th place. The same year she worked on smooth jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
projects, working with the club jazz band Hinkus and performing vocals on Tõnu Raadik's Flow of Dreams album.
She also recorded a duet song "And You Came" with the Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
n pop singer Lauris Reiniks
Lauris Reiniks
Lauris Reiniks is Latvian pop music singer, songwriter, television host and actor. Lauris was educated at the Jelgava Music college in Latvia and the University of Latvia, but acting skills have been honed in Los Angeles, California. He has released 7 solo albums...
in 2005.
In early 2006, Ilus publicly stated that she was unhappy that former Vanilla Ninja
Vanilla Ninja
Vanilla Ninja is a three-piece Estonian girl band which has enjoyed chart success in a number of countries across Europe, especially in Estonia, Germany and Austria....
bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
and lead vocalist Maarja Kivi, another Estonian singer who has achieved international success, was also using the performing name of Maarja for her debut solo single. The two using the same name has confused some into believing that Kivi and Ilus are the same person.
Late 2008 saw the release of her new studio album "Homme" with the title song included and only a year later she released a Christmas album for the Estonian market.
More credits
In 1999 Maarja became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.In 2002 she made her debut in a musical, namely the one of "Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr.. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover...
" where she starred as Ellen
Ellen
Ellen may refer to:* Ellen , a female given name* Television programs with Ellen DeGeneres:** Ellen , a sitcom about a bookstore owner...
. Later on, she has performed in several musicals staged in Estonia, such as "The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
" (Maria), "Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
" (Grizabella
Grizabella
Grizabella is the "Glamour Cat" in the musical production Cats. She does not appear in T. S. Eliot's work Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, but she is a prominent character in the stageplay. It appears that she is the feline version of the woman mentioned in T.S...
), "Evita" (Eva Peron
Eva Perón
María Eva Duarte de Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is often referred to as simply Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita.She was born in the village of Los Toldos in...
) and "Rent
Rent (musical)
Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...
" (Joanne).
Eurolaul record
- Eurolaul 2004Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004The Estonian Final was held on February 7th at the ETV Studios in Tallinn hosted by Marko Reikop and Karmel Eikner. The winner was chosen by televoting and SMS voting....
- 4th, "Homme"
- Eurolaul 1997Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997Estonia made their third Eurovision Song Contest appearance in 1997. The preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 final would follow the same format of previous years, with a judging panel selecting the song and artist that would represent Estonia in the final...
- Winner, "Keelatud maaKeelatud maa"Keelatud maa" was the Estonian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997, performed in Estonian by Maarja....
" - 7th, "Aeg", with Hanna-Liina Võsa and Anne Värvimann
- Winner, "Keelatud maa
- Eurolaul 1996Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996The Eurovision Song Contest 1996 was the third time that Estonia entered the Eurovision Song Contest, and was their first participation since their last place in the 1994 final. The entrant was again selected by a panel of expert judges, with thirteen entrants into the preselection final...
- Winner, "Kaelakee häälKaelakee hääl"Kaelakee hääl" is a song performed by Maarja-Liis Ilus and Ivo Linna that represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996. The composer was Priit Pajusaar and the lyrics were written by Kaari Sillamaa....
", with Ivo LinnaIvo LinnaIvo Linna is an Estonian singer.He represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "Kaelakee Hääl" which would go onto finish 5th at the contest, held in Oslo that year.... - 6th, "Kummalisel teel", with Evelin SamuelEvelin Samuel-Career:Evelin Samuel has been singing since childhood and was even recorded by the studios of the Estonian Radio at a very early age. In late 1980s, Evelin joined the children's musical theatre Colombina whom she performed with at the 1992 Roskilde Festival in Denmark.In 1993, she finished 4th at...
, Karl Madis and Pearu Paulus
- Winner, "Kaelakee hääl
Discography
- Maarja (1996)
- First In Line (1998)
- Kaua veel (1998)
- City Life (2000)
- Look Around (2005)
- Läbi jäätunud klaasi, together with Rein RannapRein RannapRein Rannap is an Estonian composer and pianist.Since 1968, Rannap has given numerous public piano performances.Rannap has been active in management and composition for Ruja, Noor-Eesti and Hõim.- Pianist career :...
, performers labeled as "Maarja ja Rannap" (2006) - Homme (2008)